Boxing Clinch – Sparring Tips – How to Box (Quick Videos)

‘How to Box’ – Season 2, Episode 7 – ‘Boxing Clinch’

The clinch is a vital part of boxing and can sometimes be missed from people’s training. In this quick video I show a few clinches and a couple of clinch escapes, they are definitely worth practising so if you ever find yourself in this position you know what to do, rather than fighting your way out and expending too much energy.

If you’ve been in the ring sparring, it’s more than likely you have taken a surprise hit that makes you wonder “where the hell am I”, if you haven’t, you need to experiment with new sparring partners, to constantly challenge your abilities. This “where the hell am I” moment needs to be controlled, the last thing you want to do is launch into a toe to toe battle when your wits are not about you. You have 3 options in this situation:

1 – Stand and fight – not always a great choice as explained above. 2 – “Get on your bike” (stay away from your opponent and use the ring and ropes to escape until you are recovered). or 3 – Clinch.

Sometimes getting on your bike is not an option, depending on how hard the punch was, your knees can be weak and the last thing you want to do is try to run. If you’re unsteady on your feet, your balance will be off, your opponent will notice and if you start looking like a wounded animal and they will be coming in for the finish. It’s at these times that the clinch is invaluable, stopping them from hitting, whilst getting yourself a few seconds of vital rest – sometimes this is all you need to clear your head and be ready to carry on the fight.

On the other side of the coin, it may be you that has delivered the hard punch. In which case they maybe looking to clinch, so you need to know how to escape this as soon as possible and make the most of the time whilst they are vulnerable.

I would definitely encourage you to get a training partner and to go through clinching. No need for any punching at first, just get in the ring and try to clinch and escape from the clinch. Then up the anti, get your partner to start punching to stop you from clinching. I guess when people think about the clinch, they think that when the time comes they can just grab and hold, but by doing this exercise you will find it’s perhaps not as easy as you’d imagined.

Keep up your training and get clinching!

Happy Training.

Cornelius Carr

former BBBofC British Super-Middleweight & WBF World Middleweight Champion